


Fate is a Terrible, Terrible Thing

by Nightblaze



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Again, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst?, F/F, How do I tag?, Max keeps the butterfly photo, after she sacrifices arcadia, chloe dies, max is in pain, no happy ending, probably grossly ooc, sorry about that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 13:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6377281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightblaze/pseuds/Nightblaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chloe Elizabeth Price was always meant to die in that bathroom, whether Arcadia Bay was gone or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fate is a Terrible, Terrible Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if anyone is out of character, this is my first time (and probably last time) writing a LiS fanfiction. Honestly can I just get out of this fandom now that I've contributed? I love the fandom but it is destroying my soul. Ahem. Story. Right. It's kind of very short but... oh well... This isn't beta'd, all mistakes are my own. Have fun.

There was a week of terror behind them and an uncertain future stretching ahead. Max and Chloe didn't say a word to each other as they sped out of Arcadia. Who could expect them to? They had just seen their hometown ripped apart to its roots, everyone in it probably dead.

The two girls didn't stick around to find out. If everyone really was dead, they didn't want to face it.

Max barely noticed the silent comfort Chloe tried to give her. The wreckage of her home captivated her. This is what she caused. Somehow, she would do it again if it meant saving Chloe.

The gritty crackles of Chloe's rusted truck against worn roads lulled Max into a quiet trance. Memories of the storm floated back.

__~~~~_She wanted to rip the photo of the blue butterfly right in half. But she couldn't. As the tornado - waterspout, hurricane,_ whatever  _that storm was - drew nearer to Arcadia, Max pocketed the Polaroid and stared right on. The storm tore through the town like it was nothing. Max found it was hard to look away, but when she finally turned and pressed her face into Chloe's shoulder, she knew Arcadia would be reduced to rubble._

_Chloe's stone-cold silence was chilling. The weight of the photo felt like ten tons in Max's pocket. The wind whipped round and round, tearing buildings apart and scattering their remains across the area._

Max heard the shrieking of breaks too late.

The jarring impact sent Max's head straight at her window.

Chloe wasn't moving but Max couldn't see anything else. Her vision was already fading. She hoped for the best but maybe, somewhere deep inside her, Max already knew.

When she opened her eyes to the blinding hospital lights, Max was greeted by a hysterical mother. "Oh my god, Maxine! Your father and I were so worried - let me call the nurse, oh my god..."

Max had other things on her mind. Though her mouth was dry, she had to made sure. "...Chloe?"

"Oh, honey..." Vanessa signed softly, returning to Max's hospital bed. "She... she didn't make it... The drunk driver hit her side of the car... It's kind of a miracle you're still alive."

"Oh," was all Max could muster out. Vanessa started to say something else but Max wasn't listening. It wandered elsewhere, eventually ending up on one thing: the butterfly photo in her pocket.

A day later, when Max was released from the hospital, she gripped the worn Polaroid with a mix of rage, fear, and sadness.

Chloe Elizabeth Price was always meant to die in that bathroom, whether Arcadia Bay was gone or not.

Max focused on the photo for a few long moments and she was sucked into it. The bathroom was back. Her camera spat out the blue butterfly photo. Max let it fall to the ground, face blank.

The door to the bathroom opened. "It's cool, Nathan..." His monologue seemed empty to Max now.

The door, again. Chloe. Max swallowed.

"Get that gun away from me, psycho!" _Bang._

Max sunk to the floor, putting her head in her hands. Around that corner, Chloe was bleeding to death and Max couldn't do anything to stop it.

When the all-too familiar pulling of time arose, Max closed her eyes. Chloe didn't deserve this. No-one deserved to go through this.

Then again, fate was a terrible, terrible thing. It never spared anyone.

 


End file.
